Egypt Latest: Investigating a Death from "Torture"; Challenging the Government and Sectarianism

1435 GMT: Mohammad ElBaradei, the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency of a founder of the National Alliance for Change, has responded to the alleged torturing to death of Sayed Balal: "If torture is proven to have occurred, officials at all levels must be punished. Torture is a crime against humanity. It is not an internal affair."

0725 GMT: The Egyptian public prosecutor has ordered an autopsy on the body of Mohamed Sayyid Bilal, who died in detention on Wednesday after he was arrested in a protest in Alexandria. 

Bilal's brother Ibrahim claimed the body had signs of burns and other abuse, and the family then filed a report with the prosecutor's office demanding an investigation.

Click to read more ...

Egypt Video: Hundreds Dress in Black to Mourn Alexandria Bomb Victims

On Friday hundreds of Egyptians responded to an appeal via Facebook to mourn the victims of the 1 January bomb outside Al-Qiddisine church in Alexandria.

The one-hour ceremony took place on Alexandria's corniches, with mourners holding banners calling for national unity.

Egypt Updates: Dispute over Alexandria "Suspect"; Copts Celebrate New Year

2015 GMT: Video of tonight's gathering in downtown Cairo to mourn the victims of the Alexandria bombing. Some chanted slogans against the Government holding it responsible for the tragedy, others held a candle and mourned in silence.

1525 GMT: The family of Sayyad Bilal, who died on Wednesday in Alexandria after he was arrested the previous night, have accused Egyptian police of killing him.

Click to read more ...

Egypt Feature: The Fallout from the Alexandria Bomb (Slackman)

“It is very clear that the government totally lost control --- of everything. The only control they have is on the security of the president, the group around him, and few other party figures. That’s it.”

Click to read more ...

Egypt Latest: Tightened Security for Christian New Year; 5 Activists Released

1555 GMT: An Egyptian court has postponed the trial of eight leftist activists who were arrested during protests in Cairo on Sunday.

The activists belong to the Socialist Renewal Current. They were charged with rioting, disturbing the peace, and vandalizing public property.

The hearing was adjourned until 13 January.

1345 GMT: Security around churches and monasteries  across Egypt has been tightened on the eve of Christian New Year.

Click to read more ...

Egypt Updates: Demonstrations of "Hundreds" in Cairo and Assuit; Six Activists Detained

Photo: Ian Lee (CNN)1425 GMT: Charges have been filed against eight activists detained in Monday night's protests in the Shubra neighbourhood of Cairo. (EA earlier reported six had been arrested --- see 0940 GMT).

The eight, who are all Muslim, have been charged with illegal rallying, rioting, damaging public property, and assaulting police officers on duty.

1000 GMT: Pope Shenouda III, the head of the Coptic Church, has called on his "children" to stop demonstrations and to pursue dialogue in solving problems.

The Mufti of Egypt, Dr. Ali Gomaa, has called for joint Christian-Muslim development projects and for television discussions between Christian and Muslim youth.

Click to read more ...

Egypt Video Special: Police Lash Out at Cairo Protestors on Monday Night

On Monday night, demonstrators in the Shubra district of Cairo again protested Saturday's bombing of the Al-Qiddissine church in Alexandria. This video from the Daily News of Egypt shows a line of police lashing out at the crowd with batons.

Egypt Round-up: Sunday's Protests --- And What Might Happen Today

2130 GMT: There is a steady stream of reports via social media of protests in the Shubra area of Cairo tonight, with renewed clashes with police.

1400 GMT: Minister of Information Anas al-Fiqqi has urged private television channels to heed objectivity and avoid inflammatory coverage when reporting on the Alexandria bomb.

Al-Fiqqi insisted that "nationalist dimensions" should be the focus of reports.

Click to read more ...

Egypt Opinion: After the Bombing --- "J'Accuse" (Shukrallah)

Hypocrisy and good intentions will not stop the next massacre. Only a good hard look at ourselves and sufficient resolve to face up to the ugliness in our midst will do so.

We are to join in a chorus of condemnation. Jointly, Muslims and Christians, government and opposition, Church and Mosque, clerics and lay people -- all of us are going to stand up and with a single voice declare unequivocal denunciation of al-Qaeda, Islamist militants, and Muslim fanatics of every shade, hue and color; some of us will even go the extra mile to denounce salafi Islam, Islamic fundamentalism as a whole, and the Wahabi Islam which, presumably, is a Saudi import wholly alien to our Egyptian national culture.

And once again we’re going to declare the eternal unity of “the twin elements of the nation”, and hearken back the Revolution of 1919, with its hoisted banner showing the crescent embracing the cross, and giving symbolic expression to that unbreakable bond.

Much of it will be sheer hypocrisy; a great deal of it will be variously nuanced so as keep, just below the surface, the heaps of narrow-minded prejudice, flagrant double standard and, indeed, bigotry that holds in its grip so many of the participants in the condemnations.

All of it will be to no avail.

Click to read more ...

Egypt Video: Today's Protests in Cairo

Thirteen videos of today's demonstrations in Cairo over the Alexandria attack and events in Tunisia....

Protestors try to get into Egyptian Radio and TV building in Maspero:

Click to read more ...